Week 7: Passive and Active Voice; Parallel Structures; Modifier Issues

Question 1

active voice

Answer 1

the sentence that acts in the present
less wordy/more concise
Sidney Crosby shot the hockey puck

Question 2

passive

Answer 2

the sentence that acts in the past
more wordy
The hockey puck was shot by Sidney Crosby.

Question 3

expletive constructions

Answer 3

are sentences that postpone the subject by beginning with there or it (i.e. an expletive) and using the verb to be.

Question 4

A modifier

Answer 4

is a word or phrase that gives more information about (modifies) other elements of a sentence. Common modifiers include adverbs, adjectives, and prepositional phrases.

Question 5

Misplaced modifier

Answer 5

when a modifier is poorly placed

Question 6

Modifier placement

Answer 6

where the modifier is located can change the meaning

Question 7

Squinting modifiers

Answer 7

comes in the middle of a sentence and ambiguously modifies it in two ways simultaneously. How you adjust the sentence depends on your intended meaning!

Question 8

dangling modifier

Answer 8

does not sensibly modify anything in a sentence.

Question 9

parallel structure

Answer 9

reinforces and highlights a close relation between sentence elements (whether words, phrases, or entire clauses) by putting them in the same grammatical form.